Taxation without representation

In the time leading up to the USA's Revolutionary War, this was a slogan used by the revolutionaries to describe the state of Britain's control over them. Britain taxed the colonies it owned, but did not allow them any representation in parliament. Actually, the worst thing the Britons could have done would be to give them representation. One or two representatives from the colonies would be easily outweighed by the many representatives from Britain itself. What's more, it would give the Britons an excuse to raise taxes. So, don't scream about taxation without representation.

Based on laws established in England for more than a century, the Stamp act forced anyone who purchased printed materials to pay a tax. Anyone who purchased a newspaper or pamphlet, made a will, transferred land, bought dice or playing cards, needed a liquor license, accepted a government appointment, or borrowed money would be forced to pay the tax. This was the first non-regulatory tax put on the American Colonies, and was met with much resistance.

The Townshend Acts replaced the repealed Stamp Act and put a broader tax on goods. The tax was levied on items imported into colonies from Britain, and they were designed to raise the salaries of royal officials in the colonies.

The Tea Act enabled the East India Tea Company to sell Tea to the American Colonies at a lower price because tax paid on other tea would be kicked back to them. The Act was an attempt to establish a monopoly on tea by the British owned company, and resulted in the infamous Boston Tea Party

Advocates for DC rights seized upon this motto and stuck it on DC's license plates in 2000, obviously alluding to the American Revolutionary meanings mentioned above. While license plates are prohibited from carrying "political messages", it was determined that this was not a political message, but rather a simple statement of fact. Some had wanted to say "No Taxation Without Representation", but that was deemed too political. President Clinton, during the waning days of his office, had his limo's plates replaced with the new plates. President Bush (that's "dubyah" Bush), an opponent of the DC state's rights movement, replaced them with blank DC plates.

Obviously, a license plate isn't going to change anyone's mind; rather, it's more of an attempt to have the problem be noticed by people who wouldn't have otherwise heard of it. Whenever a DC car goes on a road trip, other people may notice its license plate and be moved to try and figure out why DC would choose such an odd slogan. In essence, every car with DC plates has gotten a bumper sticker (albeit in license plate form) that conveys its message wherever it goes. A truly subversive and devious campaign.

1: OK, you got me. While DC has no representative in the Senate, they do have a "shadow representative", who can't vote, but may participate in debates. She (Eleanor Holmes Norton) has little influence in the House.